Back pressure automatic nozzle



March 23, 1965 R. M. KLAUS 3,174,513

BACK PRESSURE AUTOMATIC NOZZLE Original Filed July 21, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 20 E /g j INVENTOR. RICHARD M. KLAUS BY DES JARDINS, ROBINSON, TRITLE 8u SCHENK WWW HIS ATTORNEYS March 23, 1965 R. M. KLAUS 3,174,513

BACK PRESSURE AUTOMATIC NOZZLE Original Filed July 21, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. RICHARD M. KLAUS BY DES JARDINS, ROBINSON, TRITLE 8| SCHENK HIS- ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,174,518 BACK PRESSURE AUTOMATIC NOZZLE Richard M. Klaus, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Dover Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Continuation of application Ser. No. 828,503, .luly 21, 1959. This application Aug. 21, 1963, Ser. No. 311,273 3 Claims. (Cl. 141-2fi9) The present invention relates to automatic dispensing nozzles and more particularly to a dispensing nozzle for dispensing liquid into collapsible or non-collapsible tanks and for shutting off automatically when the discharge pressure reaches a preselected value.

This is a continuation application of pending application SN. 828,503, filed July 21, 1959, for Back Pressure Automatic Nozzle, now abandoned.

Heretofore, automatic dispensing nozzles for bottom filling tanks have been of complicated construction entirely different from that employed in conventional auto matic dispensing nozzles adapted for top filling. Accordingly, one of the objects of the invention is to provide a back pressure automatic dispensing nozzle that is simple in construction, is economical to manufacture, and is eflicient and reliable in operation.

Another object of the invention is in the provision of a back pressure automatic dispensing nozzle which employs the same general construction features as are employed in top filling automatic dispensing nozzles.

Another object of the invention is a back pressure automatic dispensing nozzle in which the control means may be adjusted to provide differing amounts of biasing force and thus can be regulated to correspond with a preselected back pressure in a tank to be filled.

Another object of the invention is in the provision of an automatic dispensing nozzle having its essential constructional features adapted for use in either top or bottom filling automatic dispensing nozzles.

Another object of the invention is in the provision of an automatic dispensing nozzle for filling collapsible tanks. 1

Another object of the invention is in the provision of a back pressure automatic dispensing nozzle in which a biasing means is mounted in position for ready access for ease in adjustment of the biasing force to correspond to various settings of back pressure.

Other objects and advantages will be obvious from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a back pressure automatic dispensing nozzle embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of a tank having a top vent and having a bottom inlet fill pipe to which the nozzle of FIG. 1 is connected;

FIG. 3 is a view of the back pressure automatic dispensing nozzle of FIG. 1 fitted to a collapsed tank to be filled;

FIG. 4 is a view, similar to FIG. 3, after the collapsible tank has been filled.

The general features of construction of my improved nozzle are similar to the automatic dispensing nozzle shown in US. Patent No. 2,528,747 but differs with respect to the condition responsive means for automatically arresting the dispensing operation of the nozzle.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is disclosed an automatic liquid dispensing nozzle having a main body 1 in which is housed a valve 2 adapted to be manually lifted from its seat 3 by a stem 4 that is elevated by a hand lever 5 enclosed by hand guard 6. Valve 2 is biased to closed position against seat 3 by a heavy spring 19 interposed between said valve and a cap 20. Valve 2 is lifted from its valve seat when an operator raises the free or right hand end of lever 5 which may be manually held or secured by a known type of release latch (not shown), such for example as that shown in Patent 2,528,747.

To insure automatic closure of valve 2 when the filling operation has been completed, there is provided a locking control mechanism generally referred to by numeral 7. The left-hand end of lever 5 fulcrums on the pivot 7a connecting it to the lower end of a plunger 7b of control 7, said plunger being reciprocally mounted for upward or downward movement within the stationary sleeve 1a forming a part of valve body 1 and being biased upwardly by a spring 7. As illustrated in FIG. 1, control plunger 7b is in its latched position. Upper portions of the control mechanism include a diaphragm 8 which separates a lower chamber 9 formed within valve body 1 and an upper chamber 11 formed within a cap 22 detachably secured to valve body 1. Communication is established between the discharge passageway of the nozzle and chamber 9 by passageway 10 in valve body 1, and chamber 11 is vented to the atmosphere by a passageway 12 provided in cap 22.

A spring 21 is interposed between cap 22 and diaphragm 8 to bias the diaphragm and conical head portion 24 downwardly to the locked position, as illustrated in FIG. 1. To insure that spring 21 is held in proper alignment, one end thereof is seated in a cup 27 clamped to the upper side of diaphragm 8 by a screw 28 fitted to conical head portion 24 of stem 23, and the opposite end of spring 21 is seated around a projection 29 on the inner wall of cap 22. Ball 25 is carried in a slot provided in and near the upper end of control plunger 7b. Said slot is closely fitted with respect to ball 25 to permit the ball to move radially with respect to the longitudinal axis of plunger 7b and at the same time prevent substantial movement of ball 25 longitudinally thereof. As noted heretofore, the plunger is biased upwardly by spring 7 but the conical head portion 24 of stem 23 is biased downwardly under the action of spring 21. Therefore, ball 25 is urged radially outwardly with respect to plunger 7b against a seat 26, thus locking the control and preventing upward or downward movement of plunger portion 7b except for a small clearance that may exist between ball 25 and the slot in plunger 7b.

An important feature of the invention is in the ease with which the magnitude of the biasing force can be changed or adjusted. This is accomplished by removing cap 22 and replacing spring 21 by another spring having either a higher or lower spring gradient. Alternatively, the biasing force of spring 21 may be altered merely by the insertion of or removal of washers placed between spring 21 and cup 27, or by an adjusting screw (not shown).

Still referring to FIG. 1, at one end of the nozzle there is an inlet to which adapter 13 is connected to provide means for quickly and easily connecting the nozzle to a supply source of liquid by suitable conduit means 33 (FIGS. 2 and 3). At the opposite end of the nozzle is an outlet to which adapter 14 is connected, adapters 13, 14 preferably being screw-threadedly connected at 15 and 15' to the nozzle. In FIG. 2, the nozzle is connected to a suitable fill pipe 16 of tank T by a coupler 17 detachably connected to adapter 14. Fill pipe 16 is of conventional construction and usually will include a check valve to permit flow of the liquid being dispensed into the tank but preventing back flow. FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the nozzle connected to a collapsible tank 32 in similar fashion, filling neck 16' corresponding to the fill pipe 16 of FIG. 2.

In operation, the nozzle is connected to a bottom filling tank such as illustrated in FIG. 2 or to a collapsible tank illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. When an operator lifts lever 5, against stem 4, and liquid is supplied to the nozzle under pressure through hose 33, valve 2 is opened against the action of biasing spring 19 and liquid will be dispensed to the tank. As noted heretofore, the operator may manually hold lever 5 in its raised position or it may be latched in its raised position by means of a suitable and known type of latch means (not shown), such as hereinbefore referred to, releasably engaging the rear end of the lever. Liquid will than be dispensed by the nozzle to the tank T, collapsible tank 32, or other suitable container to be filled and will continue to do so until the pressure of the fluid discharged by the nozzle reaches a preselected value corresponding either to the desired pressure in a tank 32 or to a desired level L of fluid in a tank T. When such predetermined pressure or level condition exists, the pressure of the fluid discharged by valve 2 is communicated to the underside of diaphragm 8 by means of passageway and chamber 9 and is at that time suflicient to overcome the downward biasing force exerted by spring 21. This discharge or back pressure, therefore, causes diaphragm 8 to move upwardly from the position illustrated in FIG. 1, thereby raising conical head portion 24 and moving stem 23 upwardly, thus permitting ball 25 to move radially inward against stem portion 23. When ball 25 moves radially inward against stem 23, ball 25 clears seat 26 at which time the heavy biasing force exerted by spring 19 upon lever 5, through stem 4, overcomes the biasing force of spring 7' upon the plunger 7b, so that the plunger is moved downwardly and the fulcrum pivot is lowered and the valve 2 is closed. The lever may then be manually released, or it maybe automatically disconnected at its rear end from a latching means, such as that hereinbefore referred to, by reason of the lowering of the lever fulcrum. The nozzle can then be disconnected from fill pipe 16 or filling neck 16' and is then ready to perform a similar automatic dispensing or filling operation with respect to another tank or container to be filled.

When the nozzle is disconnected from a fill pipe after a filling operation has been completed, the outlet or discharge end of the nozzle is again at atmospheric pressure which is communicated to the lower side of diaphragm 8 by passageway 10 and chamber 9. Hence, both sides of diaphragm 8 are subjected to atmospheric pressure since the upper surface of diaphragm 8 is always vented to the atmosphere by means of passageway 12 in cap 22. Therefore, spring 21 automatically again urges diaphragm 8 and conical head portion 24 to the position illustrated in FIG. 1. Automatic closure of valve 2 under the action of heavy spring 19 produces sufiicient impact or jarring action to release a latch means such as that disclosed in the patent referred to, sometimes employed to retain lever 5 in its raised position. When lever 5 is returned to its lowered position, illustrated in FIG. 1, either by such jarring action or by an operator manually releasing lever 5, the biasing action of spring 7' returns plunger portion 7b of control means 7 upwardly until ball 25 is forced outwardly by engagement with conical portion 24 to reengage seat 26 so that the control portion of the nozzle is automatically reset to its latched position after a filling operation has been completed and the nozzle is disconnected from the fill pipe.

As noted heretofore, spring 21 is precompressed or is easily adjustable to provide a predetermined amount of force to correspond to a preselected back pressure of liquid discharged by the nozzle or to correspond to a preselected head of said liquid above the nozzle. My improved dispensing nozzle reliably and positively shuts off the flow of liquid when a tank is filled to a predetermined level L or when the back pressure of the liquid discharged by the nozzle is suflicient to overcome the biasing force of spring 21 on diaphragm 8 at which time the control means is automatically unlatched and valve 2 is caused to close by spring 19.

It is to be noted that my improved nozzle employs many constructional features of conventional top filling automatic nozzle construction with certain modifications. For example, a conventional top filling automatic nozzle may be converted to a back pressure automatic dispensing nozzle by drilling holes 10 and 12 and closing vacuum passage ways (not shown) in cap 22. Thus it will be seen that my improved back pressure automatic dispensing nozzle is of a relatively simple construction and is efiicient and reliable in its operation to automatically close the nozzle when a predetermined back pressure is attained by liquid dispensed by the nozzle.

While the particular embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be obvious that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention, and it is intended to include all such changes and modifications that fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. An automatic shut-off diaphragm nozzle for fluids, comprising a valve'mechanism for controlling the flow of fluid through the nozzle to the mouth thereof, a diaphragm and a chamber associated therewith, said valve mechanism including a main valve having a valve opening leading to said nozzle mouth, said nozzle having a constantly open unobstructed fluid flow passage therethrough from said valve opening to the said mouth, a main spring urging said valve to closed position, a plunger, means supporting the plunger for movement toward and away from said diaphragm, a hand lever for operating the main valve, fulcrum means pivotally coupling said hand lever with said plunger, said plunger being movable between a fixed position in which the hand lever is adapted to open the main valve and a disengaged position in which the hand lever is rendered inoperative to open the main valve, said plunger having a radial slot therein, a stationary sleeve surrounding and supporting the plunger, said sleeve having a locking seat facing the plunger, the radial slot in the plunger being adapted to register with the locking seat when the plunger is in fixed position, a locking ball disposed in said radial slot and being adapted to engage said locking seat to lock the plunger in fixed position, a retainer pin attached at one end to the diaphragm, means connecting said pin with the plunger for axial movement relative to the plunger, said pin having a locking section adapted to engage said locking ball to hold the locking ball in engagement with said locking seat, means urging the diaphragm and pin in one direction to ball engaging position, means for maintaining an atmospheric pressure balance in said chamber upon both sides of the diaphragm and said last means permitting application of back pressure to one side of the diaphragm from the nozzle mouth incident to submergence of the nozzle mouth in liquid while said valve is in open position, to release the ball from engagement with the locking seat, the valve spring being adapted to close said main valve and shift the plunger to disengaged position when the hand lever is raised and the ball is released.

2. The invention as defined by claim 1, wherein the said means for maintaining atmospheric pressure balance in said chamber upon both sides of the diaphragm includes in part an aperture formed in and through the wall of the chamber and opening into the nozzle flow passage on the downstream side of said stationary sleeve.

3. The invention as defined by claim 1, wherein said chamber is formed in part by a cap overlying the diaphragm on the side of the latter remote from said plunger, and said means for maintaining an atmospheric pressure balance in said chamber upon both sides of the diaphragm consists of an aperture in said cap and an aperture in the wall of the chamber which opens into the nozzle flow passage on the downstream side of said stationary sleeve.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Davis 141--209 Franck 141-209 Biermalm 141209 Ksieski 137-390 XR Duerr 141225 XR Rittenhouse 137390 XR LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner, 

1. AN AUTOMATIC SHUT-OFF DIAPHRAGM NOZZLE FOR FLUIDS, COMPRISING A VALVE MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF FLUID THROUGH THE NOZZLE TO THE MOUTH THEREOF, A DIAPHRAGM AND A CHAMBER ASSOCIATED THEREWITH, SAID VALVE MECHANISM INCLUDING A MAIN VALVE HAVING A VALVE OPENING LEADING TO SAID NOZZLE MOUTH, SAID NOZZLE HAVING A CONSTANTLY OPEN UNOBSTRUCTED FLUID FLOW PASSAGE THERETHROUGH FROM SAID VALVE OPENING TO THE SAID MOUTH, A MAIN SPRING URGING SAID VALVE TO CLOSED POSITION, A PLUNGER, MEANS SUPPORTING THE PLUNGER FOR MOVEMENT TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID DIAPHRAGM, A HAND LEVER FOR OPERATING THE MAIN VALVE, FULCRUM MEANS PIVOTALLY COUPLING SAID HAND LEVER WITH SAID PLUNGER, SAID PLUNGER BEING MOVABLE BETWEEN A FIXED POSITION IN WHICH THE BAND LEVER IS ADAPTED TO OPEN THE MAIN VALVE AND A DISENGAGED POSITION IN WHICH THE HAND LEVER IS RENDERED INOPERATIVE TO OPEN THE MAIN VALVE, SAID PLUNGER HAVING A RADIAL SLOT THEREIN, A STATIONAY SLEEVE SURROUNDING AND SUPPORTING THE PLUNGER, SAID SLEEVE HAVING A LOCKING SEAT FACING THE PLUNGER, THE RADIAL SLOT IN THE PLUNGER BEING ADAPTED TO REGISTER WITH THE LOCKING SEAT WHEN THE PLUNGER IS IN FIXED POSITION, A LOCKING BALL DISPOSED IN SAID RADIAL SLOT AND BEING ADAPTED TO ENGAGE SAID LOCKING SEAT TO LOCK THE PLUNGER IN FIXED POSITION, A RETAINER PIN ATTACHED AT ONE END TO THE DIAPHARGM, MEANS CONNECTING SAID PIN WITH THE PLUNGER FOR AXIAL MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO THE PLUNGER, SAID PIN HAVING A LOCKING SEAT, MEANS URGING THE ENGAGE SAID LOCKING BALL TO HOLD THE LOCKING BALL IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID LOCKING SEAT, MEANS URGING THE DIAPHRAGM AND PIN ONE DIRECTION TO BALL ENGAGING POSITION, MEANS FOR MAINTAING AN ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE BALANCE IN SAID CHAMBER UPON BOTH SIDES OF THE DIAPHRAGM AND SAID LAST MEANS PERMITTING APPLIACATION OF BACK PRESSURE TO ONE SIDE OF THE DIAPHRAGM FROM THE NOZZLE MOUTH INCIDENT TO SUBMERGED OF THE NOZZLE MOUTH IN LIQUID WHILE SAID VALVE IS IN OPEN POSITION, TO RELEASE THE BALL FROM ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LOCKING SEAT, THE VALVE SPRING BEING ADAPTED TO CLOSE SAID MAIN VALVE AND SHIFT THE PLUNGER TO DISENGAGED POSITION WHEN THE HAND LEVER IS RAISED AND THE BALL IS RELEASED. 